Pop-up museum to unveil new ‘Augmented Reality Sandbox’

Thursday

May 29, 2014 at 3:15 AM

SANFORD — Sanford’s Pop-Up Science Art Technology Museum will unveil its first community-granted exhibit at the Sanford Farmer’s Market as the kick off to its “Summer of Science” this Saturday, May 31.

Children and their families will be able to interact with the museum’s new Augmented Reality Sandbox. The Sanford Kiwanis Club, New England Steel Fabricators, Union Falls Computers and Sanford Graphix have generously granted time and financial support to provide the community with an opportunity to have hands-on access to topography.

The Augmented Reality Sandbox uses a mix of real and virtual components to create topographical surfaces. The system includes an Xbox Kinect, projector, and high-quality video card that watches the user’s movements within the sand to instantly change the projected topography back onto the sand. UC Davis created the software for this program, which is now available as open source software on the Internet.

Sanford’s Pop-Up Science Art Technology Museum is the result of a hardworking group of community and business members within Sanford who want to provide unique, hands-on educational experiences to children. By doing so, the museum’s organizers hope to enrich the community, redevelop Sanford’s downtown, and improve the economy.

“We will exist to inspire people of all ages to enjoy, understand and become active citizens in the community, and world, in which they live,” said Jessica Cormier, a member of the museum, in a press release. “We envision this project adding to the quality of life for not only Sanford, but our region’s children, helping to revitalize Sanford’s downtown, and creating a destination for those outside of Sanford, which will greatly enhance our economy.”

To get more information about Sanford’s Pop-Up Science Art Technology Museum, or to volunteer, visit the museum’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SanfordsPopUpScienceMuseum or send an email to sanfordspopupmuseum@gmail.com.